Hydroponic Additives & Supplements by Category
Hydroponic Additives & Supplements FAQ's
A base nutrient is a complete feed — nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and the trace elements in a balanced ratio — and it will finish a crop by itself. An additive is incomplete on purpose and has one job: extra calcium and magnesium, silicon, a potassium and phosphorus lift, root stimulation, or beneficial microbes. You run additives next to a base feed, never as a substitute.
No. A decent two- or three-part feed will take a crop to harvest on its own. Additives close specific gaps; they are not a general insurance policy. The ones that usually earn a place are a cal-mag in coco or on rainwater, a silica in a hot room under strong lights, and a root stimulant at transplant. Treat everything else as optional and judge it one bottle at a time.
Three bottles: a cal-mag supplement, a silica, and a root stimulant for transplants and cuttings. That trio covers the deficiencies and the setbacks new growers actually run into. Hold bloom boosters, carbohydrates and terpene products until the base feed is settled — they only pay off once nothing else is holding the plant back.
Usually, as long as you add them one at a time. Each concentrate goes into the water and gets stirred through before the next one — do not premix concentrates in a jug. Undiluted silicate and undiluted calcium products in particular can react with each other. Read EC after each pour and set pH last, once the tank is complete.
Yes. Most of them move both. Mineral products raise EC, so a stack can take the solution well past the strength of the base feed alone. Silica bottles in particular tend to lift pH. Mix the lot in first, then read EC, then adjust pH — if you correct pH before the last additive, you will do the job twice.
They are additives, even though they behave more like essentials than boosters. Each one supplies an element a base feed either skips or under-doses for some growing situations, so many growers run them at every feed rather than at a single stage. Grow Kings gives them their own pages, Cal-Mag Supplements and Silica Supplements, because people search for them by name.